So I said, “Let's have a little bigger party
and have it somewhere else.” “Oh, no,” he said, “I don't think
so. I'll call up the White House and see what they think.” So
he called up the White House, and the Which House had 200 people
they wanted to invite. So we decided we'd have to have it
someplace else.

So we changed it to the Women's Democratic National Club,
and then we got word that they wanted another 150 people, including
the Medal of Honor winners. And then we thought of a few friends
of our own, if we were giving a party this large. So then the
whole things got to very large proportions. And then we found
that everybody was saying who was to come, and the people who were
coming were saying that were going to bring five more people or
twenty more people. Three secretaries were involved in it --his,
mind, and Roger Stevens'. This is how it grew.

Q:

Did you have to help finance that?

Lasker:

Yes, certainly; entirely.

Q:

That was a pretty penny.

Lasker:

Yes, but you can't get it done right if you have
to discuss it with too many other people. I didn't want to hear
other people's views about how it should be done. Less expensive
in my time and energy to do it myself, and if it was wrong I'd
have only myself to blame.